# US 2017/0169374 A1 · System and method linking building information modeling and enterprise resource planning > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0169374 A1 - Document ID: US20170169374A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/443,844 - Filed: 2017-02-27 - Published: 2017-06-15 - Earliest claimed: 2012-06-18 - Assignees: Viewpoint Corporation - Applicants: Viewpoint, Inc. - Inventors: Matthew Thomas Harris; Robert Wilson Humphreys; Lloyd Pickering; Richard Stokoe; Andrew Burden; Andrew Thomson; Andrew Ward; Laurence Skoropinski - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170169374A1 ## CPC - G06Q 10/06313: {Resource planning in a project environment} - G06F 16/212: {with details for data modelling support} - G06Q 50/08: Construction - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract An electronic construction collaboration system for managing a construction project is provided. The electronic construction collaboration system includes an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) sub-system including a contract engine configured to generate at least one project contract including a contract data set and ERP metadata corresponding to Building Information Modeling (BIM) metadata included in a structural object of a construction project model in a BIM sub-system and an interconnection engine configured to associatively link the ERP metadata and the BIM metadata and send the contract data set to the BIM sub-system in response to associatively linking the ERP metadata and the BIM metadata. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method implemented by code stored in memory executable by a processor in a computing system, comprising: receiving building information modeling (BIM) data from a BIM sub-system, the BIM data representing a construction project model including a plurality of structural objects with BIM data structures, the BIM data including BIM metadata associated with the BIM data structures; receiving enterprise resource planning (ERP) data from an ERP sub-system, the ERP data including a contract and financial data set having ERP data structures and ERP metadata associated with the ERP data structures; generating a plurality of links between the ERP data and the BIM data, each of the plurality of links associated with one of the plurality of structural objects and generated based on a correspondence between a portion of the BIM metadata and the ERP metadata, and once generated, the plurality of links map an association between non-corresponding BIM data and ERP data; and displaying in a common view, the linked ERP data and BIM data including the non-corresponding BIM and ERP data without transitioning between the BIM sub-system and the ERP sub-system. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, where generating the plurality of links between the ERP data and the BIM data includes executing a parser to generate linked ERP and BIM data structures. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to generating the plurality of links between the ERP data and the BIM data, automatically triggering data transfer from the BIM sub-system to the ERP sub-system, the data transfer including location data and form data, the location data defining one more of a contour and size of one or more of the plurality of structural objects, and the location data defining a location of one or more of the plurality of structural objects. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the generation of each of the plurality of links is prioritized based on a number of corresponding fields in the ERP data and the BIM data for a particular structural object included in the plurality of structural objects. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, where the non-corresponding BIM data and ERP data include one or more of material data, vendor data, project number data, project phase data, a subcontract number, project schedule data, and cost data. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying is triggered in response to user selection of one of the plurality of structural objects. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding BIM metadata and ERP metadata includes a similar vendor or sub-contractor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising updating both the BIM data and ERP data, using the plurality of generated links, based on and in response to receiving a change order associated with a structural object included in the plurality of structural objects. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of links are further generated based on Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) formatted data. ### Claim 10 An electronic construction collaboration system for managing a construction project comprising: an enterprise resource planning (ERP) sub-system including code stored in memory executable by a processor to implement; a contract engine configured to generate at least one project contract including a contract data set with ERP metadata; and an interconnection engine configured to generate a link between the ERP metadata and building information modeling (BIM) metadata corresponding to a structural object of a construction project model in a BIM sub-system and send the contract data set to the BIM sub-system in response to generating the link between the ERP metadata and the BIM metadata, the generated link mapping an association between non-corresponding BIM data in the BIM sub-system and ERP data in the ERP sub-system. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 10, where the interconnection engine is further configured to format the contract data set into a Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) format prior to sending the contract data set to the BIM sub-system. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 10, where the non-corresponding BIM data and ERP data include one or more of material data, vendor data, project number data, project phase data, a subcontract number, project schedule data, and cost data. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 10, where generating the link between the ERP metadata and the BIM metadata includes executing a parser to generate linked ERP and BIM data structures. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 10, where the ERP metadata includes a first data field corresponding to a second data field in the BIM metadata. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 14, where the first data field in the ERP metadata is mapped to a plurality of data fields in the BIM metadata. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 14, where the first data field and the second data field are each included in separate data sets. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The electronic construction collaboration system of claim 10, where the contract data set includes contract documents, cost data, labor hour data, and equipment hour data. ### Claim 18 A method for managing a construction project, the method implemented by code stored in memory executable by a processor in an electronic construction collaboration system, the method comprising: receiving a structural object selection input from a building information modeling (BIM) sub-system; selecting a structural object in a construction project model executed by the BIM sub-system in response to receiving the structural object selection input, the structural object including BIM metadata; sending a contract data information request to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) sub-system in the electronic construction collaboration system in response to selecting the structural object, the contract data information request including the BIM metadata; receiving the contract data information request from the ERP sub-system; generating a link between the BIM metadata and ERP metadata included in a project contract in the ERP sub-system based on a correspondence between the BIM metadata in the contract data information request and the ERP metadata; and sending a contract data set to the BIM sub-system in response to generating the link between the BIM metadata and the ERP metadata, the contract data set included in the project contract. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, where generating the link between the BIM metadata and the ERP metadata includes executing a parser to generate linked BIM and ERP data structures. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, where the structural object is defined parametrically with regard to other structural objects in the construction project model.